Testing To Open The Economy Safely

We cannot ensure success, but we can deserve it.
—  Joseph Addison
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On This Day In:
2019	Or Thought I’d Thought
2018	Go And Dare
2017	And Wealth A Poor Substitute For Ability
2016	Neither Darkness Nor Shadows
2015	It Took Roots
2014	Hard Evidence
2013	Full Participation
2012	Roving (Again)
	Ooops, Again
2011	Why Not?

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Expecting A December Correction

We believe that according the name ‘investors’ to institutions that trade actively is like calling someone who repeatedly engages in one-night stands a ‘romantic.’
—    Warren Buffett
[With the Dow at very near an all-time high, a “normal” market “correction” (a 10% drop) will still leave the market above 25,000 which would still be a historic end of year high.  The only questions are when will the correction eventually happen and how far past “normal” it will go?  Okay, three: how long will it last?  Remember, this is the first Presidency to have an 800 point drop in a single day…  Of the top five daily losses in Dow history (roughly 120 years), ALL five have happened during the current Administration.  So far, we’ve recovered from each quickly…   —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Dominoes II (Update From Last Year’s Post)
2017	Dominoes
2016	Itchin’
2015	In The Not So Distant Future
2014	Sources
2013	Three Essentials
2012	Just Looking
2011	Religious Lessons
2010	View From Under The Bus… (A mid-term report card on the Obama Administration. Long, but still worth reading for historical perspective.)

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Where The Economy Is Headed Thanks To #IncompetentDonald

A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.
—  Yogi Berra
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On This Day In:
2017	Time For More Research, Too
2016	Original Thoughts
2015	If They’re Good Enough
2014	Three…
2013	Uncle Joe’s Song
	Live, Then, As If…
2012	Still Trying
2011	Not Deserving

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An Approaching Disgrace

I believe racism in America is about fear and economic opportunity.  The fear is the fear of “others”.  Those not like us.  Those not from around here.  Them.  I believe there is a natural tendency in humans to bond with those we are near and associate with.  Call it localism, nationalism, tribalism or some other kind of “groupism” and it still results in the same thing – “us” against “them”.  This tendency is played upon and magnified by those who seek to “control” the majority of Americans – the majority who just want to get on with their lives, get ahead a little financially and raise a family.  The tactic is to divide and conquer and, as I mentioned previously, race is one easy way of dividing people who might otherwise find common cause.
There is a perception in modern society that we can’t ALL have great jobs – whatever “great jobs” means.  That may be correct.  But, we should all be able to work hard for a living wage.  Note, I said “living wage”, not “minimum wage”.  “Work hard” means more than just showing up, although that is a very important part of working hard.  It also means giving your best effort during the time you are working.  It normally means using your brains as well as your muscles.
I question this perception / belief / assumption.  I believe we can all earn a living wage.  We are not all going to be “rich”, but I believe our nation is unique in its ability to fund equal opportunity.  I’m not sure we always had this ability, but I certainly believe we do now.  I believe we are moving into a post-industrial (post-standardized, post-mass produced) world where the benefits of industrial scaling are beginning to decrease and the benefits of limited, customized, specialized manufacturing are starting to dominate.  On top of that, we are now better able to use technology to make very specific (small scale) manufacturing cost effective for the majority of products.  And finally, a significant portion of the economy is now purely digital, meaning: it isn’t consumed by use.
There is a saying that a smile is something you can give away freely and never have less of.  This is what we are approaching with an economy based on digital use without consumption.  The trick will be the distribution of wealth and opportunity for economic advancement.  It will be a disgrace to see race rather than ability as the determinant factor in distribution.
[The above is an excerpt from a book review I posted back in 2011.  The specific post is located here: https://kmabarrett.wordpress.com/2011/05/22/sir-charles/
The original posting was from “way back when” and I had almost no followers.  I just re-read the original and the above seemed (to me) to bear repeating…
—  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2017	Liberty, Collusion, History And The Republican Majority
2016	But I Have Too Many Questions
2015	A New Friend
2014	Do I Have To Fall In Love?
2013	More Democracy, Please
2012	Speaking Of Love
2011	Limits

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Champion Freedom

Let us henceforth make war on all monopolies — whether corporate or union.  The enemy of freedom is unrestrained power, and the champions of freedom will fight against the concentration of power wherever they find it.
—    Sen. Barry Goldwater
From his book: “The Conscience Of A Conservative“
[For thirty years we have seen nothing but union busting, worker subjugation and the steady increase of power (economic and political) by the corporations willing to weaken America and our freedoms by the constant drumbeat of foreign competition – by both exporting jobs to other countries and importing labor to increase the supply of workers inside the United States.  The net effect of both tactics must always be to drive down the costs of labor for all workers even those at the very top end of the labor market (corporate management).  It is simple supply and demand.  It is just a matter of time before multinational corporations recognize they don’t have to pay hundreds of millions to American executives, when they can pay tens of millions to Asian or European executives.  The loss of jobs is incremental from the bottom up – workforce, supervisors, management, executives.  The American conservative movement has promoted the erosion and crippling of the workforce (apprentice and journeyman) and supervisor levels of our economy.  Much of the management level has also been lost.  Executives are increasingly in the target cross-hairs…  Where are our champions of freedom?   —   KMAB]
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Staying Alive

There were only three ways the stock market could keep rising at ten percent or more a year.  One was if interest rates fell and remained below historic levels.  The second was if the share of the economy that went to investors, as opposed to employees and government and other things, rose above its already historically high level.  Or, he said, the economy could start growing faster than normal.  He called it “wishful thinking” to use optimistic assumptions like these.
—    Alice Schroeder
From her book:  “The Snowball: Warren Buffet And The Business Of Life“
[The above is part of a speech Warren Buffet gave at a conference in 1999, where he describes the economy in the middle of the dot-com boom.  It was, in fact, though not intended as such, a prediction of the dot-bomb bust.  Interestingly, the first two suggestions are exactly the course being used by the government today to try to get us out of the current housing depression – job recession.  We have kept the interest rates at an historically low level for almost two years and we have extended the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans.  It still seems to me, that it is “wishful thinking” this will get us out of our current financial quandary.  And I note that Warren Buffet was against extending the tax cuts.    —    KMAB]
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